Teen Wolf Natural Born Survivor
by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Summary: TWO-SHOT. "They say the damaged become dangerous because they know that they can survive." - Josephine Hart.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Teen Wolf. This story is fan-made. I do however own Katie and Ashley Whittemore, along with Sean Heartman and any other OC's that you come in contact with.

**GREAT NEWS:** Here comes the real great news. On the 10th December, 2013 I finish Uni for the Christmas holidays, which means I have roughly 3 weeks off. In that time I will be starting the rewrite for season 3a just in time for season 3b in January.

**Author's Note:** This not where my Teen Wolf series starts. If you want to read the series without getting lost, I suggest you read my stories in order:

**Finding An Anchor - Ohana - Make Me A Believer - Possessions - Luna - There's No Place Like Home.**

Anyway, down to business - I hope you all enjoy this chapter. We're picking up right where we left off...

* * *

**Title: **Natural Born Survivor

**Summary: **TWO-SHOT. "They say the damaged become dangerous because they know that they can survive." - Josephine Hart.

* * *

Katie screamed and bolted into a sitting position.

When she looked around she saw that she was in a bed, but the room was unfamiliar, meaning it wasn't her bedroom. The bright light that seeped in through the window was all she needed to know that it was the middle of the day.

But where was she?

If she wasn't in her own bedroom, or even her own bed, then she obviously wasn't in her own home. Was she at Allison's? Lydia's - that would be a long shot considering the ongoing feud between them - maybe she was in Jackson's bed? But then, she would've recognized her brother's bedroom, and this definitely wasn't it.

A door opened, and Katie snapped her head up. She held her breath, drawing enough air into her lungs to start screaming if she felt threatened by whoever was coming into the room, but she let it all out when she saw it was her mother.

"Mom?"

Ashley Whittemore sighed, crossed the room in two strides and enveloped her daughter in a tight embrace. "Oh, Katie," she said, kissing the side of her head. "You're awake. How you feeling?"

"Confused,"

"That's understandable," Ashley nodded.

"Where am I?"

"You're home."

"But this isn't my room," Katie said, looking around. The room was dreary looking. The walls were a stony white colour, there was no furniture in the room, no drapes on the windows, the only thing the room had was the bed in which she was lying.

Ashley nodded, grabbed a silk gown from the bottom of the bed and draped it around her daughter's shoulders. "This is your new room," she said. "We haven't got round to fixing it up yet, we wanted to wait for you to get better before we make any final decisions."

"I'm not ill, mom," Katie said, throwing back the covers.

"No, of course not," Ashley said. "But you were in a distressing situation, honey, what I mean to say is that we wanted you to feel better with yourself and come to terms with what happened, before we start pressuring you into what design you want your room."

Katie looked around, her gaze fixing on the farthest wall in her room. "Can't I just have it like it was before?" she asked. "Isn't changing the way we live a constant reminder that something had to happen in order for that change to occur?"

"Not necessarily, sweetheart," Ashley said. "Change can mean a number of things. It could act as a positive reminder of what happened, _or_ it could help you move on from the tragedy, it could turn your life around."

"What I have, _had_, isn't something I want to lose."

"And you won't," Ashley promised. "We're not leaving Beacon Hills, darling, your brother has made it certain that we're not leaving, he says you wouldn't want that -"

"Of course I wouldn't!" Katie exclaimed. "I'm not going to let what Blake did to me ruin my life! I have friends here, people who need me."

Ashley put a calming hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I know, baby," she said, nodding. "I know. But your father and I came to an ultimatum: if we kept you and Jackson in Beacon Hills then we at least had to move away from all the bad memories."

"I don't understand..."

"Come with me," said Ashley, holding out her hand. She stood from the bed and pulled Katie out from under the blankets.

The youngest Whittemore looked down as she stepped out of bed, she was wearing a two piece suit - shorts and t-shirt, - and the silk gown that her mother had draped around her fell to her just above her knees.

"Where are we going?" Katie asked, allowing her mother to lead her across the room.

Ashley smiled, patiently, and opened the bedroom door. The hallway outside was lined with several different openings, each one leading into a new room. Bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen, and there was a solitary white door at the end of the hall that looked to be the only exit from the confined space.

Katie felt her breathing hitch as she stepped out of her slightly larger bedroom.

"Mom," she squeaked, her eyes wide with terror.

"You're OK," Ashley said, squeezing her daughter's hand. "I'm right here."

Katie felt the pressure of her mother's hand on hers, and her heart rate started to decelerate. She didn't know why she was panicking, but she put it down to be trapped underground in a bunker for more than thirty-six hours. Claustrophobia was the psychological name for what she was feeling, or it was more commonly known as 'fear-of-enclosed-spaces.'

Ashley led Katie down the hall and into the kitchen. Sitting at the breakfast table was an array of other people, all of which looked up when they entered.

"Katie, you're awake!" Jackson said, jumping up and encasing his sister in a warm hug. Katie smiled into it, wrapped her arms around her brother's waist and hugged him for all her worth. She didn't want to let him go, but there were other people in the room that wanted to hug her.

Pulling away from Jackson, Katie fell into a hug with Allison. The older brunette held on just as tight as Jackson had done.

"I'm glad you're awake," Allison said as the two pulled away.

"Me too," Katie nodded.

Allison smiled and allowed Katie to hug her uncle Sean, who had been released from the hospital day before yesterday. If anything he definitely looked like he had taken a beating. He had a black eye, thick cut lip, a thick scar running along his right jaw, and, although no one could see, under his shirt there were several bruises that had yet to heal. When he moved, he moved with a slight hobble, meaning that there were some internal injuries and, if what his doctors had said were true, he was very lucky to be alive seeing as several of his ribs had been broken during his physical assault, and one of them had punctured his lungs.

"Katie, you're OK," Sean smiled, hugging his niece.

"Uncle Sean," Katie whispered, tears pricking the corner of her eyes. "I'm so sorry. So, so, so sorry."

"Hey, it's OK," Sean said, kissing the top of her head. "It's not your fault."

But Katie was still crying.

"Katie, look at me," said Sean, pulling away slightly. "What happened to me wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself."

"No, you don't get it, you don't understand," said Katie. "None of you do."

"What do you mean, sweet pea?" David Whittemore asked.

Katie turned to look at him and everyone else. "Everything that happened," she said, drying her tears with the back of her sleeve. "It _was_ my fault."

**~*Natural Born Survivor*~**

Sometime later, after suffering her second panic attack, Katie sat in the living room of her new apartment. Around her sat her family and her friends, Allison and Jackson were either side of her, both of them were ready to provide moral support and comfort if and when Katie needed it.

Isaac, Stiles and Scott, all of whom had shown up half an hour ago, were sat on another sofa. The former was staring at his hands as he listened to Katie speak, it had been almost three days since she had been released from the hospital and brought home, three days since they had found out about Blake drugging her with a date rape drug, and the hallucinations she had suffered, hallucinations that made her believe her friends, family and _him_ didn't care about her.

Isaac understood what Blake had done to Katie, and that because of this their relationship was going to be a little rocky, but he was willing to stick by Katie throughout it. He was willing to be there when she needed him, he had already had Allison tell Katie that he was wasn't going anywhere, and that he would be waiting for her to come back to him.

"Katie, what did you mean when you said everything that has happened was your fault?" David asked, pressing the subject gently. He didn't want to push his daughter into another panic attack, but he also knew that they had to get to the bottom of why Blake had done this, and why he had chosen Katie has his target.

Katie swallowed, wrapped her arms around herself, and looked up at her father. "He told me it was because of Matt," she said.

"Matt?" Ashley asked, confused, while the rest of Katie's friends straightened up and exchanged looks. "Who's Matt?"

"Blake's younger brother," Jackson answered.

"He's just as much a creep as Blake was," said Scott, looking at Allison.

"Maybe as not as psychotic," Allison added.

Katie swallowed. "After Blake's friends attacked Stiles, I knew that they weren't going to stop," she explained. "I thought that if Blake had me alone, he would do what he came to do and then leave us all alone; I didn't expect him to kidnap me, and I certainly didn't expect him to want me dead."

"Why would you give yourself up?" Ashley asked. "That's what I don't understand. I thought your father and I taught you better than that?"

"You did," Katie said. "This was nothing to do with your parenting skills, Mom; this was something that I had to do in order to protect you and my friends. I knew Blake wasn't going to stop hurting the people I loved in order to get to me, so I decided to skip a few bases and go straight to him. I had seen what he had done to Stiles, and then he told me he had Uncle Sean, I didn't want it to happen to anyone else, I'm sorry."

David put his hand on his wife's shoulder, and then looked back at his daughter. "It was a foolish thing to do," he said. "But trying to keep your distance was only delaying the inevitable; he would have cornered you sooner or later. Now tell us about Matt, and how he fits into all this."

Katie hesitated and glanced around at her friends, telling her parents and Uncle Sean about Matt Daehler meant opening a can of worms that neither of them seemed ready to explain; but if Ashley, David and Sean were ever to understand what had happened to Katie then it was something that needed to be done.

"First you have to understand that this is hard to explain," Katie said, "and that there are going to be several factors of this story that you won't understand, and may need a lot more explanation."

"OK?" Sean said, nodding uncertainly. "Like what?"

"Something that you might think is out of this world," Katie said. "Literally."

David, Ashley and Sean exchanged looks. What exactly was Katie and Jackson involved in that would be, as Katie put it, 'out of this world.'

"Like Jackson said," Katie continued. "Matt Daehler is Blake's younger brother; he's the boy that was found dead a few blocks from the Sheriff's station three months ago."

"During the string of the unsolved murders," said David.

Katie nodded. "A lot of people believed that he was just one of those that the killer had finished," she said. "But drowning didn't fit with the motive of the killer, which was why many still believed that he was the victim of someone else. They don't realize how close to the truth they actually are; the person that killed Matt, I don't know his name, killed him for a reason."

"Isn't that what most serial killers do?" Sean asked.

"The person who killed Matt had a more... personal reason," Katie said. "He killed Matt so that he could control the serial killer that was paralyzing its victims and then killing them."

Ashley and David exchanged looks. They had the sneaky suspicion that Katie knew more about the string of murders than she was letting on.

"I wasn't involved with Matt's death," Katie added, quickly. "But I was one of the last people that saw him alive. Matt had found out a secret that I was a part of... he was going to exploit that secret, and a lot of people that I care about were going to get hurt. You might remember this because it was around the time that I disappeared..."

"... and came back with a bandage around your shoulder," Sean said, "and an ex-boyfriend that you hadn't seen in a long time."

Katie nodded. "Aiden," she murmured. "He's saved my life twice, I wouldn't be sitting here right now if it wasn't for him," she half-glanced at Isaac as she spoke, but then looked away before he could catch her eye. "But that's not the point. The point is that Blake blamed me for Matt's death, it's like he said, I may not have killed Matt, but I was indirectly connected because I know who did, and because he couldn't find the real killer, he was gonna go for the next best thing."

"You," Stiles said. He was supporting a nasty bruise on his temple, along with a black eye and busted lip. All in all, he looked just like Sean did. Katie felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she stared at him.

"Yeah," said Katie. "Me."

"But that couldn't have been his only reason," said Scott.

"It wasn't," Katie said. "Blake also wanted me to pay for what I had done to him."

"What had you done to him?" Allison asked.

"Testified against him," Katie answered. "I put him away. He said he lost everything because of me, his friends, his brother, his scholarship, everything. He said he had wanted to kill me from the moment the judge declared him guilty. He said that his life in prison was torture, and that I had to pay for making it so miserable."

"But you didn't do anything?" Jackson said, anger getting the better of him. "If he had been such a creep in the beginning then you wouldn't have testified against him, and he wouldn't have been put away."

"Jackson, please," said David, patiently.

Katie shifted and laid her head against Jackson's shoulder. "I know that, and you know that," she said. "But Blake didn't see it like that. Everything that happened to him while he was in prison was my fault, and so he needed to make me pay for what I had done."

"That's when he put plans into escaping," Allison said.

"Must have," said Katie. "He didn't speak much about how he had got out, and I only saw the boys that helped him once. They were there when I woke up the first time, but they didn't stay. Blake sent them away and the only person I ever saw after that was him."

Jackson wrapped his arms around his sister and hugged her tightly.

"That's how it's my fault," said Katie, looking up at her parents. "That's how everything that has happened to Stiles and to Uncle Sean, that's how it's my fault. Blake attacked them because he knew he could get to me, he knew that I would surrender myself in order to protect my friends and family."

She lowered her gaze, shook her head and then looked around at both Stiles and Sean.

"I just want you both to know that I'm sorry," she said. "I never meant for you to get hurt."

A heavy silence hung in the room after Katie's confession; Ashley and David were still trying to wrap their heads around her story, but both knew that there was more to it than just what they had been told. Stiles, Scott and Isaac were staring at their hands, each looked like they wanted to say something but neither wanted to break the silence first.

Jackson still had his arms around Katie, as she buried her head in his shoulder, and Allison was rubbing her back in soothing circles.

Finally the silence was broken by Sean.

"Hey," he said, leaning forward and pulling Katie out of Jackson's arms, and into his own. "Listen to me; we don't blame you, not for a second. What you did may have been stupid, but was also really brave, there aren't many people that I know of would have done what you did. So, no more tears and no more pity. We've all been through a great ordeal, and we're all still recovering, blaming ourselves, or blaming you isn't going to help. You didn't ask to be hunted by Blake; you didn't ask to be attacked by him. If anyone is to blame, it's him. Understand?"

"But -"

"No, buts," Sean said, shaking his head. "Katie, there is nothing you could've done to stop Blake coming after us. It was just bad timing on our parts. But it's over now, we can move on," he brushed a strand of brown hair from her face. "We can start over. Isn't that what you want? To forget?"

"He nearly killed me," Katie said. "He raped me, beat me and nearly killed me."

"And there are going to be people who judge you on that, people who will pity you, but you can't listen to them, OK? You're not like them, you're better. You survived everything Blake threw at you, and came out on top because you're standing here, alive, while he is lying in Beacon Hills Memorial mortuary - dead. You're a survivor, Katie, and a natural one at that."

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**A/N: **As said above with there only being 2 more weeks until I finish Uni for Christmas break, I will be making this story a two-shot - meaning a second chapter will be updated sometime next week.

_**Read and Review!**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated ****Thursday, 28 November 2013 at 11:47pm**


End file.
